Ahmad Totonji
Ahmad Totonji was a co-founder and officer of the now-defunct Safa Trust and a co-founder of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, along with Anwar Ibrahim, Jamal al Barzinji, and Hashim al Talib. He also served as chairman of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), and Deputy Secretary General of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. Totonji was born in Iraq, and is a citizen of Saudi Arabia.[1]
Whilst studying for a BSc in Petroleum Production Engineering at Birmingham University, he simultaneously began networking with fellow students and the wider Muslim community, devoting precious time and energy to establishing a number of organizations in the UK including the Muslim Students Society (MSS) of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and later on the Muslim Students Association (MSA) of Europe. Overcoming many challenges and witnessing first hand the impact of mobilizing others and developing their strengths for ethical community work, a vision was born towards whose active realization he has devoted the rest of his life.
Having obtained his BSc, he then travelled to the USA to study for a doctorate in Petroleum Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. Once again whilst pursuing his studies at the University Dr. Totonji continued to work tirelessly in the service of the Muslim community and youth, networking with fellow students and community members on a number of projects, the most important of which culminated in the establishment of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) of the United States and Canada. This was the 1960s, a decade which witnessed Dr. Totonji not only become President of the MSA, but network and develop relations with major American personalities in the Muslim community at the time, those who were influencing the US Muslim context. These included such notable figures as Malcolm X, those involved in the civil rights struggle, and the late legendary boxer, Muhammad Ali.
His work then took on an international dimension which saw him over the decades visit all four corners of the world. On the professional career level, he established the College of Petroleum and Mineral Engineering in Libya and the Department of Petroleum in Saudi Arabia; on the dawah level he helped establish the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY); and on the relief level the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO). This is but a glimpse of Dr. Totonji's projects, for on an even greater scale they encompassed the establishment of a wide variety of institutions, both academic and volunteer work-related, in many countries both within and outside the Muslim world.